None.
This invention relates in general to wall-mounted dispensers for dispensing fluid material from refill containers received within the dispenser and carrying a dispensing pump activated through the cover to dispense material and relates in particular to a means for disabling the pump activating means to prevent activation of the pump in the event the refill container and pump are mislocated within the dispenser.
Dispensing systems of the type involved in the present invention are well known in the prior art as can be seen from any number of prior art patents, such as, Kanfer U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,749; Bartasevich U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,772; Schroeder U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,267; Bell U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,236; Bell U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,877; Sears U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,659; Schroeder U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,227; Maddox U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,916; Maddox U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,329 and others. These pumps are generally utilized to dispense various fluids such as soaps, lotions and other skin care products. The dispensers are often employed also to dispense more than one product depending upon the nature of the cartridge or refill element inserted into the dispenser.
The dispensers generally include a backplate which can be mounted on a wall or other vertical surface and a cover hinged to the back plate. The cover is movable between open and closed positions with regard to the back plate and a replacement or refill cartridge or other source of the fluid material is received on the back plate and held in place by the cover when closed.
These refill cartridges or other containers also carry with them pumps of various designs and the cover has a pressure member which, when activated, engages the pump to draw material from the container and pass it out to the hand of the user.
Inasmuch as the dispensers are often used for dispensing more than one type of product, it becomes important that they are only refilled with that type of product inasmuch as there are commonly labels on the exterior of the cover describing the nature of the contents. It is often difficult to ensure that only the proper product will be placed in the dispenser in conformity with the information on the outside of the dispenser.
In the past, various methods have been utilized to prevent either inadvertent or intentional dispenser refilling with the wrong product. One method of doing so has been to provide a locating member on the back plate and a spout key on the exit nozzle of the pump. The exit nozzle is configured or keyed in such a way that it presumably will only mate with the configuration of the receptacle in the dispenser in order to ensure that only the proper refill for a given dispenser is utilized.
Problems do arise, however, with these solutions to the problem due to the fact that, in view of the nature of the material from which the nozzles and the fitment members which receive the nozzles in the dispenser are fabricated, it is possible to force fit the wrong nozzle into the wrong dispenser fitment and, thus, into the wrong dispenser so that the user does not receive the intended material when the pump is activated.
It is accordingly believed desirable to provide a means for ensuring that the pump will not operate properly unless the proper insert or replacement cartridge or container is utilized even in the event of a force fit between the nozzle and the fitment which, in most events, will not provide full seating of the nozzle.
It accordingly becomes the principal object of this invention to provide a lock-out or interference means which will prevent activation of the pump of a dispenser of this nature unless the proper refill cartridge is utilized and properly seated in the fitment member.
In furtherance of that object, it has been found that the pressure bar or other activating member of the cover can be provided with a transverse rib on its interior surface so that when the activating member or push bar is pushed inward, to presumably depress the pump and activate it to eject material to the hand of the user, the rib will contact the rigid portion of the pump and prevent the push bar from engaging the depressible member and, therefore, to prevent it from activating the pump.
Accordingly, it becomes the principal object of this invention to provide an improved lock-out mechanism for a dispenser having the above-identified characteristics with further objects of the invention becoming more apparent upon a reading of the following brief specification considered and interpreted in view of the accompanying drawings.